Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1887-05-21
A BAsEBALL's MAKEUP.
Cutting Into the Spheres Core to Get a
Its True Inwardness.

Its True Inwardness.
There" said President Spaulding, on
Wednesday afternoon, holding in one hand
white sphere, you behold the baseball
in all its glory. Tell you how a baseball is
made? Certainly. Let me take your knife
till l cut this ball IN halves. Here you
have the inside of baseball. In the CEN
the ball its elasticity; that is what makes
it bound, either from a bat or from the
turf. 1t is by the core that we regulate a
balls liveliness. Previous to 1865 the base
ball had a core % inches in diameter of
this Para or pure rubber. You can imagine
how lively ball that would make. This
core is only inch in diameter, and see
when | toss ii on the floor it bounds almost
to the ceiling. 1t was with ball contain
ing p ounces OF pure rubber that we
youngsters of Rockford used to make
So 75 or even 100 runs in a game
In a game against a club at Har-
ward in 1869 we made ITO runs, and
our average for the season was almost so
runs to the game. When the champions
knocked out SO runs at the Park last Satur-
day, playing against the Eyanstons, was
reminded of the old days when the lively
ball was in use. That ball served a good
purpose. 1t developed fielding, and as
fielding developed the game managers be-
gan deadening the ball. From '68 to IA
the ball kept growing deader and deader,
until in the latter year the extreme was
reached, the core of the ball being merely
a piece of vulcanized rubber, possessing
little more elasticity than piece of wood.
1t was almost impossible to bat such a ball
out of the diamond, and l guess if this dead
ball had been kept in use the game itself
would have been pretty near dead. People
like batting and fielding. and it lisa mistake
to use sluggish bali. When the League
came into power the ball was gradually
made livelier, and this ball is a very happy
medium between the two extremes
League balls are all made by hand.
Round the rubber core workmen wrap
wooden yarn, drawing the threads tight
and distributing them evenly over the sur
face. Near the centec cover you perceive
thin layer of white stuff. That is coat
of cement put on the ball by dipping. 1t
serves to hold the yarn firmly in place and
to preserve the balls spheridity under all
circumstances. The cement makes the ball
so firm that it could be used without much
danger of destruction even before the cover
is put on. But after the cement comes more
wooden yarn, and then a few strands of
cotton thread are wound round the whole
to make the surface smooth. Finally the
cover is put on. This is made of carefully
selected hOrSe-hlQe, strongly sewn with
linen thread. This is all done by hand,
and so well done that league balls rarely
rip unless they come in contact with
wall or fence or some other sharp-pointed
object As you may know, baseballs are
subjected to pretty hard usage, but they
stand the test remarkably well. The cover
of ball is composed of two pieces OF
identical shape and size"
"a good many baseballs used in year,
Ell ?''
Eyes, millions of them, 1 guess. There
are seven or eight factories in the United
States. Just how many balls they turn out
in year one could hardly guess. The
League uses about 1000 balls in year"
Every spectator at G baseball game has
seen the umpire tear open square box,
take a ball therefrom and toss the latter to
the pitcher then in the box. Every base
ball used in a League game must be of
ficially sealed by the Secretary of the
League. and the box must bear his sigma
ture. Before taking ball out of the box
the umpire is required to see that the sig
nature and seal are all right. Moreover, he
must glance at the ball itself, and unless
he finds Secretary Nick Young's name
written on the horse hide cover he cannot
put the ball into play Chicago Herald.